In New York
by Mislav
Summary: Set somewhere near the end of the first half of season ten. Team has to work together in order to find a serial stalker who moved on to murdering his victims. They will need special help from Kate Callahan in order to bring the murderer to justice. Meanwhile, Spencer is facing the possibility of starting a relationship, but he isn't sure about that. Case!fic!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I don't own any of the Criminal Minds characters and I am not making any money from writing this.**

**Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.**

**This is a case!fic. It focuses on a fictional case that I made up and all characters are involved. This is not a romance and there are no actual ships feautured, although potential love interest for Spencer is introduced as a part of a storyline and for purposes of character study. I wrote it because I would like to see more depth regarding Kate's character by now and I feel like most of episodes of season ten don't focus on profiling or Reid enough. Of that is not your thing, you shouldn't ne reading this. If it is, carry on.**

It was a chilly evening in Brooklyn. There was nobody at home, except for one person.

Young brown haired man was breathing heavily as he glued the last photograph of a young brown haired woman on the big piece of paper hanging from his bedroom wall, already covered with many other photographs and many detailed plans and notes written on it. Everything had to be just right, he couldn't, shouldn't leave anything, anyone out. So he could plan his next move... and remind himself of his previous successes. He shuddered.

_Leaves for work at eight am. Comes home at about five pm. Works as a fashion designer. Has a boyfriend, doesn't live with him._

Her took a step back and observed the craft that he had just made. All of them, he still remembered every single one. And he knew that they will remember him too, as long as they are alive. Always fearing that he would come back to get them.

Words echoed through his mind.

_I predict that she will break by the next month._

He sighed as he ran his hand through his spiky hair. Now, number six...

#

It was a nice, sunny morning in Quantico, and all members of BAU team were already at work, looking into case files, interrogating suspects and examining the evidence. Some were doing some non work related things too.

Spencer Reid was typing something on his laptop while sitting at the desk in his office, real fast. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of well familiar voice, emerging from the door way. "Hey, pretty boy."

Spencer quickly closest his laptop shut and turned facing Derek, smiling nervously. "Hey..."

Derek frowned at him. "What did you just do."

"Oh, you mean... you just surprised me, that's all."

Derek tilted his head at the side. "Are you OK?"

Spencer nodded his head, but couldn't help but blush. "Yeah, sure. I was just... googling, I know."

Derek was confused. Not only did Spencer never talked or acted that way, If that wasn't Spencer, he would have thought that he just caught his colleague browsing for porn. But he didn't have time to discuss the matter further. "Hotch wants to see us all. We are assigned on the investigation in New York City."

Within half an hour, all team members were sitting around the desk in the conference room, with Penelope joining the last. They had a new case on their hands. "Blast from the past, people!", Penelope explained as she stood in front of the screen, taking a remote in her hand. "It looks like you will have to reopen te Brooklyn stalker case. Also known as "Bralker". Because, irony."

Aaron sighed as he cracked open the file. "I remember this", he commented, already deep in thought. "He claimed five victims in four year span, all of whom were Caucasian, brown haired woman in their early thirties, average height and weight, single and living alone in Brooklyn area. He would begin with calling them late at night, breathing heavily or yelling obscenities on them. Calls would soon turn more frequent and he would soon start sending them anonymous letters, very graphic in nature. On the third and fifth occasion, he managed to snap naked photographs of his victims and post them online, and he would also send them a letter containing them. He also hacked his fifth victim's Facebook and MySpace page and deleted them completely. In all cases except the first one he would also vandalise victim's car at least once. With his fourth and fifth victim, he would also break into their apartments: he would ransack them, write insults on the walls and steal their underwear. Victim number four had a dog, a beagle. He strangled it to death with it's own leash."

Kate had a disgusted look on her face. "I so want to get this guy", she mumbled.

"Even after they would change their telephone and cellphone numbers, he would still be able to contact them", JJ read. "It would take him a few days though. And then things would turn even worse."

David frowned. "That is weird."

JJ shifted in her seat. "Not necessarily. By stalking his victims, he would probably stalk their family members and closest friends. Those persons would know their new numbers. Given his obvious stalking and technology skills, he could have easily obtained numbers from them after realizing that his victims had changed theirs."

"Victims number one, two and four eventually had to move away, victim number three ended up having a psychological break down and was institutionalized for two months, victim number five attempted suicide by jumping from her balcony", Spencer read before looking up to face his colleagues. "She was in a coma for a month and is currently in a mental health clinic on a recovery. After such incidents, he would stop, but always send them a text message, a goodbye note. But he would note that There is always a possibility of him coming back."

"All victims contacted the authorities, but they were unable to locate him", Aaron explained. "We were called in two years ago. We delivered a profile, interrogated the victims, gave some advice, but we weren't able to solve it either."

Garcia sighed. "Well, hopefully, you will be able to do so this time because he claimed another victim two days ago and it didn't end with her moving away or attempting to commit suicide." She took a deep breath before continuing, trying to hide a dread in her voice. "This time he raped her and murdered her."

Everyone widened their eyes and garde at each other, surprised at such the sudden turn of events. Penelope pressed at the remote, and the photograph of young Caucasian woman with long brown hair and brown eyes.

"Ella Wilkerson, thirty four", she explained. "A resident of New York, Brooklyn. That guy started stalking her about two months prior to her death." She clicked at the remote again, making photographs of the letters and phone records appear on the screen. "He broke into her apartment a week before murdering her." Crime scene photographs appeared on the screen. "Since then she got a better lock and had antiburglar alarm installed, and also convinced her friend to check on her by calling her every day at eight am and every night at ten pm and to call 911 if she doesn't answer within a minute. On the morning of January 25th, Ella didn't answer, so Allison called 911. A responding officer rushed to her apartment and found her lying dead, face up on the bed in her bedroom, completely naked, her hands tied to a bed frame with black leather straps." She pressed at the remote again, turning away so she wouldn't see anything gruesome. Crime scene photograph showing Ella's body appeared on the screen. "She was beaten viciously over the face and chest area, raped and strangled to death."

"The killer apparently took all the clothing she had on, as well as bed sheets from the bed, with him", Kate read.

"Probably as a trophy or a forensic countermeasure", Derek theorized. "Or both."

"According to the forensic report, ligature marks around her neck seemed to be bra strap marks, the same size like the one she wore, and black lace fibers found on her neck match to the ones found on her chest, on an area when one would expect a woman to have her bra on, and on her lips and inside her mouth. Her own pubic hair was also found in her mouth. So it is likely that he hanged her with her own panties and strangled her with her own bra."

"Strange", JJ noted. "So organized and careful, and yet he opted to use something that he found on the scene to gag her and murder her."

"Maybe he did bring it but couldn't resist, or he planned to use some of the victim's clothing in committing the murder right away", Kate suggested. "Maybe that played some sort of special sexual element for him."

"Apparently, they already have a suspect in custody", Derek noted while going through the files.

"Yes, but they have no strong evidence against him, so they are calling us. I mean, you", Penelope explained.

JJ continued godine through the file. "Gary Lake, twenty nine." A photograph of young, Caucasian, brown haired man appeared on the screen. "Works as a computer programmer in a succesfull company for the last five years. Married for the last three years, one child. No priors. Lives in New York, Brooklyn. None of the victims lived more than twenty miles away from his home."

"A resident noticed a suspicious looking car lurking around the area at about two am, black SUV, and wrote down the licence plate just in case", Derek read. "After hearing about the murder, he reported his finding to the police. They ran the licence plate number through and found that the car is registered to Gary Lake. One other witness reported seeing black SUV in the area at the approximately the same time, but didn't notice anything else and couldn't describe the driver. Neither of the witnesses could identify him, but they both identified his car. Further forensic examination also recovered traces of very specific appliance on victim's body, the one used by the company where Gary worked, for disinfection."

"Close proximity, age and profession fit the profile that we had previously composed, and working as a computer programmer would give him enough free time to stalk his victims and skills and resources needed to bully his victims the way he did and not get caught, having no priors is a little off but not impossible, but being married with a child does not fit at all", David said.

"Anyway, we will not know that for sure until we see him in person and interrogate him", Aaron concluded as he stood up, taking his file with him. "Wheels up in thirty."

#

The grownigly nervous unsub was reading the news article about Ella's murder. His hand held tightly at the page, almost ripping it, his erratic breathing echoing through the room. Every written word seared into his mind, that already struggled to think of what was the good thing to do next. The time was running out.

The unsub shivered at the vivid image of life draining away from Ella's face before closing his eyes, thrilling sound of his victim taking her last breath sending jolt down his stomach.

~OPENING ROLES AND CREDITS~


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I don't own any of the Criminal Minds characters and I am not making any money from writing this.**

**Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.**

**Note to guest: it is OC but she will not be feautured a lot, there will be no Spencer/Kate but Kate will play an important role in the story. I was thinking about writing a Spence/Kate story, but that will not be this one.**

_Kate Callahan: All extremes of feelings are allied with madness. Virginia Woolf_

JJ was studying the crime scene photos and an autopsy report. "According to the injury on her neck, he tasered her. Ligature marks were obviously sustained after. That happened before the attack. That is the way he incapacitated her."

"All usable fingerprints fond inside the apartment match to Ella herself", Derek exclaimed. "Rape kit recovered no semen, but traces of lubricant, the one applied to condoms, were found. Very common brand, not really helpful."

"Lashes used in a crime are also easily obtainable", Aaron noted. "Traces of were found on them, but no fingerprints or DNA. A single pubic hair was also found on the scene. It look different than Ella's. DNA analysis is still in progress."

Spencer was puzzled by one detail. "There are no traces of breaking and entering, the alarm didn't go off. The records show that it was turned off ar 2:25 am. It looks like she let him in."

Kate frowned. "Why would she do that?" "Could the killer be someone that she knows ?"

"Maybe it was a copycat", David suggested. "Somebody who knew Ella and had heard about the stalker case, realized that Ella fits the profile, began stalking her while imitating Brakler's M.O. and eventually murdered her."

"In that case, that probably isn't Gary Lake, so far there is no evidence of him ever knowing the victim", Derek concluded. Spencer shook his head.

"I doubt that we are dealing with a copycat. Progressing to murder is a bit off, but there are way too many similarities."

Derek's ringtone sent off. Garcia was calling him: he answered. "Hello, baby girl", he greeted her. "You're on speaker", he noted, just in case.

"OK, I went through Gary's background and found almost nothing strange. Born and raised in Brooklyn, mother died in a car accident web he was twelve, father is a retired police officer, older sister is married with four children... but he had a juvenile record at the age of thirteen."

"What was it?"

"I can't tell because it is incredibly well sealed. Even I can't access it. But I will keep trying."

The call ended, mystery evolving the room.

"Me and JJ will go talk to the investigators and interrogate Gary", Aaron decided. "Kate, go to the morgue. David, Derek, go search the victim's apartment. Reid, go though Gary's personal belongings and try to compose a geographical profile. We didn't have enough material to do so first time around."

#

Kate shivered as she took a first look at Ella's body. A ME, middle aged Caucasian woman with long red hair, stood next to her, with latex gloves over her hands. "According to the her potassium level, she died early in the morning of January 25th. Cause of death was without a doubt strangulation by ligature. Her bone was broken and some venes in her lungs were actually punctured. That wasn't due to a beating that she had suffered, but due the pressure it was applied to them. Her lungs were fighting for air and lost."

"He was really angry...", Kate commented, studying those injuries.

"Yes, those injuries were pretty severe, but not fatal. Several broken bones, lots of nasty bruises... based on the look of the bruises I would say that she sustained the beating shortly before her death. Some of the bruises probably didn't even show up until a few hours after her death. Obviously, she was beaten by a strong right handed person, but I was unable to determine more than that."

"An injury to the right side of her neck points to a conclusion that she was tasered. She also has some minor injuries to the back of her head and back too-after being tasered, she probably lost consciousness, fell down and her body hit the floor. There was some serious tearing on and inside the vaginal area, and she had bruises on her hips and lower thighs, that were not sustained by the beating, so she was obviously sexually assaulted. By the severity of the tearing and the look of the bruises, I would say that it happened about before or at about the time of her death. I took a rape kit and sent it to the lab. I also took a look in her mouth and found some fibers, that I sent to trace, and a pubic hair, that I gave to DNA analysis."

Kate eyed victim's face and chest once more. "Crime scene was pretty clean, but these bruises are a proof of wild rage. He is organised, but not as much as an experienced killer would be. This is definitely his first kill."

ME sighed as she took her gloves off. "Hopefully his last one too."

Kate leaned over to study victim's wrists closer, having noticed something interesting. "Bruises on her wrists...", she exclaimed. "She was binded, but also tried to break free. She was consciousness at the time of her murder."

ME shrugged. "It could have been a coincidence."

Kate sighed. "Or he restrained her and then waited for her to wake up. He craves for dominance and control. And is violent. If we don't stop him, he will definitely kill again. Possibly soon."

#

David and Derek walked around Ella's apartment, desperately trening to fond some clue.

"She really did her best to secure her apartment", David noted. "Alarm, good lock, bullet proof glass..."

Derek sighed. "But he still managed to got her."

Derek picked up a book from the coffee table and started going through it. "Hey... did you notice something weird about Spence lately?", he susjed as he did.

David stopped going through the drawers, surprised by the question. "No, why?"

"Just wondering."

#

Aaron and JJ were walking down the hallway over to the interrogation room, followed by a lead detective, Freddy Teagers.

"To be honest, that guy doesn't look like a killer to me", he commented. "But all those evidence are hard to ignore."

"How was he acting after his arrest?", Aaron asked.

"He was definitely worried and unhappy by that, but he was and still is denying any involvement and he didn't say or do anything incriminating."

Freddy stopped upon seeing young woman approaching him. She was Hispanic, about 5'9, her black hair cut in bangs. And she looks really angry. "That is Gary's wife. Melany", he whispered.

Melany stopped in her tracks upon approaching them. "How long will you hold my husband in here?", she asked angrily. "He didn't do anything!"

"Mrs Lake, we are from FBI", JJ calmly explained. "We came here to look into the case and interrogate him. If We think that there are reasons to, we will make sure for him to be let go."

Melany was still furious. "He was with me that night, I already told you so. What else do you need?"

Aaron sighed. "Unfortunately, we don't think that is enough reason for his release."

Melany groaned, tilting her head at the side. "You think that I am lying?"

Aaron was about to say something, but Melany cut him off. "We have a child. How do you think his son feels?"

Freddy took a deep breath. "I am sorry, but I think that those women deserve justice and if we need to hold your husband in custody in order to her them that, we will do."

#

Aaron and JJ eyed Gary curiously before starting an interrogation.

"Two witnesses identified your car as the one that was circling around the building that Ella lived", Aaron explained. At the approximate time of the murder."

Gary shrugged, appearing calm. "Those witnesses must be mistaken. They probably saw a car that looks very similar to mine."

JJ glared at him. "With similar licence plates too?"

Gary twitched a little, but nothing more than that. "I guess."

JJ leaned in closer to him, lowering her voice. "We know that you have juvenile record. It is sealed. Pretty damn well. What was that about?"

A single drop of sweat rolled down Gary's forehead. He looked down at the floor for a moment before looking back up at JJ. "I... I was a kid. I got into some fights at school... nothing serious."

"Your father is a retired police officer. Did he make sure that everything gets so well concealed?", Hotch asked.

Gary shrugged once again. "I honestly don't know."

"Can you explain those incidents a bit further?", JJ demanded.

"I don't want to talk about that", Gary answered after a short silence.

"Appliance found on victim's body matches to the one used by the company where you work. It's pretty rare. Forensics found traces of it on some of your clothing and in your car."

"I am not the only persons who works in that company. That company is not the only one that uses that appliance!"

JJ shrugged. "Still, I think that all this is too much of the circumstancial evidence to be a coincidence, don't you agree?"

"I didn't do that."

#

"I really don't know what to think of that guy", JJ said. "I had never seen so many contradictional reactions at once."

"Anyway, unless we find something fast, they will have to let him go."

They ran into Spence, who was standing in front of a Brooklyn map that was hanging from the wall and going through some papers. He smiled upon seeing them. "Oh, you're here."

They smiled back. "What did you found out?", Hotchner asked.

"All letters were written by the same person. By all accounts, that is a man in his late thirties to early thirties, a resident of Brooklyn. He probably even grew up in here. He very likely has above average IQ and at least a college degree."

"That matches to Gary."

"I still need to compare the letters with his writing samples though."

"How is geographical profiling doing?", JJ asked.

"Well, all victims are from Brooklyn area, neither living more that fifteen miles away from each other, but so far I don't see a pattern."

Freddy walked over to them, with a serious look on his face. "Half an hour ago, Ella's family received a letter that described, in graphic details, circumstances concerning her murder. Person who wrote it also claimed responsibility for her murder and the stalkings. According to the post mark, it was mailed two days ago."

JJ widened her eyes. "While Gary was already in custody", she concluded.

"He made two phone calls while in custody, both to his wife. Those calls were videotaped. No letter was mentioned."

"I still need to compare that letter to the other ones", Spencer reminded them.

"Do that if you want, but whoever wrote it revealed the information that only the killer could have known."

Aaron sighed as he turned facing the interrogation room door. "Gary Lake is not our unsub", he concluded.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I don't own any of the Criminal Minds characters and I am not making any money from writing this.**

**Please forgive any minor spelling or granata mistakes, Emglish is not my native language.**

**Thank you, Daisy312, I corrected that! I was busy and made a mistake, sorry.**

While Spencer was analyzing the latest letter, the rest of the team was gathered in an improvised office in the back of the police station, taking another look at the evidence and trying to find a logical explanation to all that, still baffled by the sudden turn of events.

"So many evidence pointing to him... and all of the sudden, that letter", David theorized.

"I don't understand", Kate admitted.

At that point, Spencer walked into the room. He sighed as he sat at the desk.

"I compared the letter that Ella's family received to the other ones", he explained. "It was definitely written by Brakler. I told Freddy to let him go."

Derek sighed. "Obviously, Gary is not our guy, but keeping in mind the witness statements and forensic reports, either somebody is framing him or the real stalker-and the killer-just so happens to own a car similar to Gary's and have an access to that same appliance."

"Gary himself said that it was either a mistake or that somebody was framing him, but he had no idea who would want to frame him", David noted as JJ started going through the reports again.

"By all accounts, he was a model employee and an law obeying citizen. Except for that unspecified incident at the time he was fourteen."

Kate was tapping with her fingers against the surface of the desk. "Licence plates on Gary's car are 2658AR. Two and five are pretty recognizable numbers and it is hard to mistake an A with another letter, but in the dark, on a moving car, it is easy to misinterpert some other number or a letter as six, eight or R."

"Unlike the frame up theory, the miss identification theory can be checked", Derek said as he pulled out his phone and dialed Penelope's number. "Hello, baby girl."

She grinned. "Bring it on. You know that I would do anything for you."

Derek chuckled before giving orders. "I need you to check how many black SUVs that have numbers 2 and 5 and letter A on their licence plates are registered in Brooklyn area, in a fifty miles radius from where the victims lived."

Penelope got on work, taping as fast as she could, with her eyes centered on the screen. "OK... I have... about five hundred matches", she eventually exclaimed.

But Derek wasn't even near over. "OK. Concentrate on the people who work in companies specialized in computer programming or technology design, for companies that use the same appliance like Gary's company. Check Gary's company too. They are not necessarily computer programmers themselves, they can work there as janitors or clerks."

"Eliminate women and anyone older than the age of forty", Spencer added.

Penelope worked her ass off as usual, typing furiously at the keyboard as her mind was struggling to make sense of all that information. "OK... I am slowly narrowing it down, but it will take me some time... many of those companies are very secretive when it comes to their datas, and so far I can find no data revealing which one of those companies uses that appliance."

"Thank you, mama. I'll hear from you later."

"I bet", Penelope replied in her usual playfull tone as she ended the call and continued doing her research.

Short silence ensued. Aaron was thinking hard, staring down at the case file as he fondled his arms together.

"What do we do now?", Kate eventually asked.

Aaron looked up and sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Talk to the previous victims, see do they know something that could help us with the investigation."

"Whitney Willson, Anne Teeger and Emily Tanner moved away in order to get away from him", Spencer reminded them, gling through the file as he did. "I wouldn't be surprised if they had changed their names since then too."

"But by all accounts, Heather Gould and Tania DuBois still live in Brooklyn", David noted. "We can talk to them."

"Heather suffered a nervous breakdown due to the unsubs actions and Tania even attempted suicide. She is still on a recovery in a private mental health facility, although scheduled to be released soon. Talking to those women would be complicated, even risky."

"But it is the only lead that we have at the moment", Aaron concluded.

Derek chimmed in. "We should probably talk to the witnesses who reported seeing Gary's car too, see what they really saw."

They both stood up and started to leave. Once everyone left, Derek pulled Spencer to the side.

Spencer glared at him. "Something wrong?"

"No, just... you know that you can tell me anything, right?"

Spencer blushed a little. "I know."

Derek smiled at him, then turned around and walked away.

Kate was standing a short distance away, looking at them, but said nothing.

#

Within an hour, Derek and JJ were sitting in Heather Gloud's house, at her dining room table, talking to her. Or rather, letting her talk.

Heather was looking down at the floor, her lower lip quivering as she was remembering the day everything started.

"He first called me somewhere in August, late at night... breathing heavily. I... I was so freaked out... I immediately hanged up... he didn't call again that night, but I barely slept at all. Next morning, he called again. Then twice while I was at work. After a week... he finally spoke. He said... "Do you ever wonder... how it feels to be gutted?" And laughed... maniacally... I screamed, hang up... I didn't leave the hours for two days."

She looked up, her eyes watery. Derek and JJ said nothing.

"Once I did, finally, I went to the police station and reported him. But... they couldn't trace the calls. Eventually, they advised me to just change my number. I did... for the next several days, he wouldn't call me. But one night... I answered the call. He screamed... "Why are you trying to avoid me, bitch!" I started crying, he got all smug and says: "That's exactly the way your mother cried before I bashed her head". And hanged up. I tried calling my mother, but she didn't answer. I was drugi v for an hour to get to her house, almost had a car crash. In the end it turned out that she was alive and well."

She shook her head. "I still remember the day I received that letter... no return address... I thought that was weird, but I decided to read it anyway. And as soon as I read the first sentence, I figured that was him. That is when I got that feeling... that he would never leave me alone."

Derek glared at her. "And you never saw him?"

"Never. But I still remember his voice. I will never forget it." "He moved on to... murdering people?"

"We will provide you a police protection, just in case", Derek assured her.

"But right now we would like you to think back at the times he was calling you", JJ explained.

Heather stared at them for a few seconds with eyes wide before whispering: "No..."

"You could remember something", JJ said softly. "Maybe a sound in a background or an accent..."

Heather cut her off. "Listen", she said, trying to stay calm. "I would hear that voice at least once every day for months. I still hear it every time I think back on the event and at least once a week in my nightmares. I am sorry about that girl, but I just want peace."

She swallowed and rubbed her eyes, looking away as she shifted in her seat.

"I would like you to leave now", she said.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I don't own any of the Criminal Minds characters and I am not making any money from writing it. **

**Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language. **

Psychiatric facility where Tania was staying was a large three store building with yellow walls and a big yard. The grass was bright green and there was even a nice elm tree growing in the corner. It almost looked more like a local retreat than a psychiatric facility.

"Heather didn't want to talk to us even after a year went by and you expect a woman still in recovery following her suicide attempt to help us find out something more about the unsub?"

"She was the latest victim, meaning that her memory is the most fresh. Stalker was especially brutal towards her, obviously spent plenty of time stalking her. Meaning more interaction with the victim, more details, more stuff that she could remember."

"And remembering those events may jeopardize her recovery!", JJ exclaimed.

"I am aware of that, but we don't exactly have a better choice right now, do we?", he exclaimed, raising his voice slightly as he did. He then sighed and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "He already killed one woman", he explained softly. "Such a sudden change in his MO, it came out of the blue. Right now, as much as I hate to say this, he is unpredictable. He could do anything. We need to catch him as soon as we can, and in order to do that we have to investigate every possible lead."

After a tense moment of silence, JJ sighed and leaned back in her chair, looking blankly in the rear view mirror. "We should talk to her therapist first, to make sure we don't make a wrong move", she eventually said.

Derek nodded his head, still looking through the car window. "Sure", he said.

#

Common room mostly consisted of bunch of tables, patients sitting at them, reading or writing. Walls were bright colored. Everyone wore white pajamas.

Derek and JJ exchanged an eye contact before turning back to face Tania. She was almost unrecognizable comparing to her photographs before the stalkings: shorter hair, paler skin, reddish eyes... and big scar across her forehead. She was looking down at the table, playing with some plastic cubes.

"When I began falling down, I immediately regretted it." Her voice was soft, albeit a bit shivering. She almost sounded too passive. "I wanted to scream, but I felt like paralyzed. And, within seconds, my body hit the ground. It was so painful... but but I felt so peacefull. For the first time in months. And then... everything turned black."

Tania suddenly looked up at them.

"What do you want from me?"

"We would like to talk to you about what you lived through. What that man did to you. To see can you remember something that could help us solve the case. Your therapist said that is safe if we are careful."

"Why now?", Tania asked, suddenly sounding curious.

Derek and JJ exchanged an eye contact once again, before Derek spoke. "He murdered one of his victims four days ago."

Tania's eyes widened in terror. They knew that they had to be careful from that point on. "Which one?", she asked.

"A new one. If we don't catch him as soon as possible, he will probably continue."

"You said that you once saw somebody standing on the street, in front if your apartment, at night. Later, he mentioned something similar to that in his letter. But you couldn't describe him. Maybe now you could."

"Close you eyes", JJ advised her. Tania closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"What time was it?", she asked her.

"About eleven pm."

"What were you doing?", Derek asked.

"I was nervous. Unable to sleep. Walking around."

"That's when you saw him?"

Tania nodded her head. "Yes. I looked through the window and there he was. A man." Her breathing hitched a little as she continued. "Nobody else was there. Just him."

"How did he look?", Derek asked.

"I can't..."

JJ held at her hand gently. "He can't hurt you. We are here now."

"What if he comes back later?"

"He will not", Derek assured her. "We will provide you a police protection."

"You can stop him."

Tania swallowed hard, blush creeping up her cheeks. "Black leather jacket... brown hair... and scar on the back of his neck!", she finished before covering her face with her hands, sobbing silently. JJ hugged her gently.

"It's OK. You helped us a lot. Think you."

#

Howard Zachary looked around as Reid sat beside him. "Excuse me, but why am I here? I already told the police everything that I knew."

"I know that, but we still have to make some things clear, so I will try a new technique on you. Maybe it will help you remember more details."

Howard frowned at him. "You aren't going to hypnothise me, right?"

"No... not exactly." He pulled out a notepad and a pen from a desk drawer and plačeš the idoms on the desk in front of Howard.

"OK, it goes like this. You take this pen in your hand and just press it against the notepad."

Howard did that, shifting in his chair as he did.

"Close your eyes."

Howard did that, swallowing hard while doing so.

"Now, just move with the pen against the notepad, slowly." Howard did as Spencer told him, smiling slightly for a moment. "Don't draw or write anything, just move it." Howard frowned a little as he continued moving the pen up and down. "Don't think of anything in particular", Spencer advised him. "Take it easy. Here we go."

Spencer just let Howard do that for a while, studying him carefully in the process. Eventually, he moved to the next step. "And now, slowly think back of the night when you saw that car circling around the building where Ella lived. It was about two am, right?"

"Right...", Howard whispered as he began remembering what happened four nights before. "I was walking home from a bar. I live near by."

"Have you been drinking?"

Howard twitched for a moment. "Just a little. I was tired... just wanted to go to sleep."

"You didn't see the car right away."

Howard shook his head as he tightened the grip on the pen. "No... I was just about to go into the alleyway leaning to my house... and that's when I spotted it. Black SUV. Driving down the street."

"Something about it caught your attention."

"Yeah. I never saw that car in that area before. And I know that area very well. And it's not a high traffic neighborhood. Even after it drove down the street, I kept standing there, staring... like I had a feeling that it would come back." He chuckled briefly. "And it did."

"It drove back down the street, opposite side... it was circling. And then..."

Spencer was looking at him with eyes wide, checking on the notepad every now and then. "Then you saw the licence plate", he concluded.

Howard grinned as he started moving the pen against the paper faster. "Yes, I did!" "The car was driving slowly... there was a street lamp near by..."

"You decided to write it down."

"Yes. I pulled out my phone, went to the notepad section... and wrote it down. But I didn't see all of it. I only wrote down some parts."

"You didn't see it or you didn't remember it?"

Howard tilted his head at the side, frowning. "I... I don't know."

Spencer was being patient. "Think back. How clearly were you able to see it?"

Howard groaned. "I..." But it looked like he began writing something, though unknowingly.

"At one point, you saw the whole plate, right?"

Small smile appeared on Howard's lips as pen's moving became more varied. "Right..."

Spencer stared at the notepad with eyes wide. Howard did end up writing down a complete licence plate. It read: 2658AR.

#

Within an hour, everyone, including Freddy, were sitting around the table in the office again, reviewing what they got thus far. "Tania seems to remember that the stalker has a brown hair and owns a black leather jacket and has a scar on the back of the neck. Not much, but at least more that we had at first."

"Did you have any more luck, Spence?", Derek asked Spencer.

"Not much. One witness couldn't remember anymore details, and one ended up writing down Gary's licence plate."

"We already ruled Gary out", Dave noted.

"Yes, but it was late at night, he had been drinking a little before seeing a car, he was asked to look at Gary's car in order to make an identification... you see where this is going."

"DNA analysis shows that pubic hair found on the body belongs to an American Caucasian man", Freddy informed them. "It isn't Gary's. No match in CODIS."

Derek pulled out his phone after his ringtone went off, and answered the call. It was Penelope. He immediately put her on speaker.

"Who do we love?", she squealed cheerfully.

Derek sighed. "Penelope..."

"That's right. OK, I cross matches the data and found one match. Theodore Stinston, thirty years old. He owns a small computer programming business in Brooklyn for the last five and a half years and owns a black SUV, licence plate 2850AP."

Freddy widened his eyes, suddenly remembering something. "Theodore Stinston? I remember that name..." He went through several files on his side of the desk, pulled out one of the file, cracked it open and began going through it.

"He has no priors, but interestingly, two days ago, he was interrogated in the course of a murder investigation", Penelope read.

"Yes, my division had been assigned to the case", Freddy exclaimed as he looked up at the others. "His personal assistant, twenty five years old Alex Green, was found murdered in her apartment yesterday. Buldgeoned to death, autopsy showed that she had died as a result of severe trauma to the head that early morning at about two am. Her live in boyfriend found her body at five am that morning, he was a security guard working a night shift. Skin was found under her fingernails, it is currently on DNA analysis. The apartment was ransacked, it looked like burglary gone wrong, but nothing was stolen. Phone records showed that she called him about two hours before her death. He claimed that it was something business related, denied any involvement in the murder and claimed that he didn't know who would want to hurt Alex, but could provide no alibi. He claimed that he was home alone at the time of the murder, sleeping. His fiancee was out of town. One neighbor also reported seeing black SUV drive away from her apartment building, but didn't remember the licence plate or any distinctive characteristics, and he couldn't describe the driver. owned black SUV, as well as two other cars. He is a person of interest in the case, but currently we have no strong evidence linking him to the murder, and he had no troubles with the law before. He isn't even in the custody."

Aaron glared at him. "Why didn't you mention that to us before?"

"Victim's didn't live in close proximity to each other, didn't look alike, an MO wasn't the same, so far there are no evidence that Alex was stalked or that she even knew about the whole Brakler case... I didn't think that there could be a connection." "Until now."

"He definitely matches the profile", Spencer noted.

"And since he was never in trouble with the law, his DNA wouldn't have been in CODIS", Kate noted.

"Well, he denied ever being in her apartment and refused to provide fingerprint and DNA sample. But he has a right to deny that, and so far we don't have enough elements for a warrant."

"We need to get this guy", Aaron announced..


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I don't own any of the Criminal Minds characters and I am not making any money from writing this.**

**Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.**

**Sorry about the late update. I hope that it was worth the wait. I have other case!fics in plan xx.**

Company that Theodore owned was a large building with wide hallways and white walls. Theodore was walking down the hallway, towards his office, followed by Aaron and Derek. He was tall and thin man with short black hair and black eyes. He was wearing white shirt, black pants and work shoes.

"With all due respect, I don't understand why are you here", he said. "I already told the local police everything I knew. Honestly, I am surprised that FBI got involved."

"We have reasons to believe that Alex's murder may be linked to another murder that we are currently investigating", Derek explained. "The murder of Ella. Did you know her? Ever heard anything of her?"

Theodore frowned for a moment, but remained calm. "I heard about her murder on the news, that's all."

"And you don't have an alibi?", Aaron pointed out."

"No, I was home alone", he calmly stated.

"And on the night of Ella's murder?", Derek asked.

"When was she murdered?"

"Four days ago, between one and three am."

Theodore forked a small smile. "See alibi number one. Is that all?"

Aaron and Derek exchanged a look. "No", Aaron admitted. "We would also like you to go to the precinct and provide us your DNA sample."

"Do you have a warrant?"

"No", Derek admitted.

Theodore fondled his hands together. "Then I think I'll pass."

P"If that's what you want, but I gotta warn you, you will be considering a suspect if you refuse", Aaron stated.

"OK then. I have nothing to hide." He sat at his desk, still looking up at them. "If that's all, I would like you to leave now. I'm busy."

#

Kate and Spencer were already in the conference room once Aaron and Derek went inside.

"How did it go?", Kate asked.

Aaron sighed. "Theodore said nothing new and refused to provide us with a DNA sample."

"So, what do we do now?", Kate asked.

"I don't know", Aaron admitted.

Derek suddenly sighed, looking ar Kate curiosly. She turned facing him.

"What?", Kate asked.

"You know, you kinda look like the type of girls that Brakler had been targeting. A bit younger and with shorter hair... but other than that..."

"That's true", Spencer agreed.

Kate eyed him curiosly. "What do you suggest?"

"Take it easy", Aaron warned them. "I will not put any of my agents in danger."

Kate chuckled. "Believe me, I am a good fighter."

Aaron remained serious. "Still." He turned facing Derek. "What are you proposing?"

"There is a bus stop near his company. Just have her stand there late at night and wait for him make a wrong move."

#

In the end, everything turned out quite boring. Kate had been standing on the bus stop for ab hour, without anything happening. She was looking around nervously, moving her hand up to run it through her hair. Finally, she spotted Theodore walking by, towards his car, then suddenly stopping.

"He is approaching me", she reported via a small macrophone attached to her sleeve.

"Stay calm", Aaron ordered her. "Do not show interest in him."

Kate remained standing straight, looking in front of her while in the same time gazing at Theodore every now and then.

He was just standing there, observing her, for some time, and then started walking towards her.

"He is walking towards me", Kate reported.

"Let's go", Aaron decided as he walked out of the car, with Derek in tow. It was about then that Theodore sneaked to Kate from behind and put his hand on her shoullder.

Kate wasted no time: before he was able to make any other move, she grabbed him by the hand as hard as she could, turning him around, then pressed her hand against his back and pinned him to the ground, while he groaned. She pulled his arms behind his back, pulled out her handcuffs and handcuffed him.

It was then that Aaron and Derek ran over, with guns pointed, staring with eyes wide at the sight.

"Hi, guys", Kate said, pulling Theodore up off the ground, turning to face her partners. "Wanna take this over?"

#

Theodore was sitting at the table in an interrogation room, looking nervous and jumpy, looking around. Kate was standing outside, looking him through the one way mirror, smirking, her arms crossed on her chest. Spencer was standing next to her.

"I heard that you did a great job", he commented.

"If only you were there", she giggled.

At that point, David and Aaron walked in the interrogation room, closing the door behind.

David smirked as he sat beside Theodore, followed by Aaron. "Things aren't looking too good for you, Theo", he exclaimed. "You are suspected of two murders and numerous stalkings."

"I didn't do anything!", Theodore cried.

"Why were you following our agent then?"

"Something about her didn't seem right to me. I suspected that she was from the police or something so I followed her to see if I am right. When she pulled out her phone, I panicke and tried to stop her. But I would never hurt her! And I didn't stalk or murder anyone!"

"You are aware that we now have a warrant to obtain your fingerprint and DNA samples", Aaron firmly stated. "We showed you the warrant, forensic techs fingerprinted you and took your saliva sample. There was a pubic hair found on Ella's body. Skin cells were found under Alex's fingernails. Forensics will match DNA profile obtained from those samples with your own. They'll get you."

"They won't, because I didn't murder them!", Theodore exclaimed.

#

At the same time, Derek and JJ were searching Theodore's basement.

"This looks even worse than my basement", JJ commented while looking at the dirty jeans on the floor, pale wales and zip ties scattered around.

Derek finished inspecting the old fridge, then opened the tool kit on the table near by and carefully inspected the idoms inside.

"This hammer could have been used to murder Alex", he noted. "I'm going to tell the forensics to take it to analysis."

"Look at these floor boards...", JJ eventually exclaimed, making Derek turn facing her. "Don't they look a little off to you?"

Derek looked down at the floor, taking a step closer to JJ. "Maybe...", he agreed.

They both bent over and started inspecting the floor boards closely, gently touching them in order to find a way to remove them. Eventually, Derek pushed his fingers inside a small crack beneath the two floor boards and pushed with his fingertips at it's undersides, pulling them out of the frame. He carefully removed them and put them aside, while JJ did the same with the few other boards.

They were surprised to find a plastic bag hidden underneath, with laptop and a pager inside.

#

In the same time, accross the city, interrogation continued.

"I just can't understand why would a handsome, successfull guy like you hate women", David pointed out. "What did they do to you? The brunettes?"

Theodore sighed, feeling frustrated. "I don't hate any women and, for the last time, I didn't stalk or murder anyone."

#

Meanwhile, in Theodore's basement, Derek was giving instructions to a forensic tech that was holding a plastic bag containing the laptop. "Take this to Penelope Garcia for examination, now! You got that?" The tech just nodded his head. "OK." Derek then walked over to JJ.

"How are you doing?", he asked.

"Pretty good", she said, smiling at him.

"There are traces of blood on the hammer, in the sink and the cloth found in the sink", the tech explained. "It's human."

Derek took another look at the hammer, then pulled out his phone.

"I am going to send photographs to ME, see if she can declare a match."

#

David stopped the interrogation to answer the phone call. He smirked once he shoved the phone down his pocket.

"Bad news for you, Theo. Hammer found in your basement matches to Alex's injuries."

Theo couldn't believe it. "What?", he asked.

"And they found a laptop in your basement, with incriminating letters inside."

Theo was staring blankly at the wall. "That can't be..."

"You should consider making a deal", David advised him before he and Aaron left.

#

They were surprised to find Spencer standing in the hallway, staring at the big white board, with photographs and forensics report plastered on it.

"Spencer...", JJ exclaimed. "The case is closed. You can stop working now."

Spencer turned facing them, with almost a shocked expression on his face. "I compared Theodore's writing samples with Brakler's letters. Writing style doesn't match."

"Well, maybe he would simply write the letters differently", JJ suggested. "Inspiration can do that to you. Or he would deliberately change his usual writing style. Forensic countermeasure."

Spencer wasn't convinced. "And you said that Allison remembering seeing a scar on the back of Brakler's neck. Theodore doesn't have one."

"Yes, but technically, we can't know for sure did she really see Brakler", Derek pointed out. "Also, Theodore could be concealing a scar with some sort of a make up, he could have even had it surgically removed after the incident due to being afraid that Allison had spotted it, or maybe it wasn't a real scar in the first place, just something that looked like one, applied in order to fool the possible witnesses."

Spencer continued. "There are no GPS records proving that he ever went to Ella's or Allison's place at the nights of their murders."

"An expert like Theodore could have easily taken care of that."

Spencer shook his head and turned facing the board again. "She also mentioned that a man standing in front of her apartment building was wearing a black leather jacket. No such idom was found in Theodore's possession, there is not even a single photograph showing him wearing it. Also, his fingerprints are not on the computer or on the printer, there is no forensic evidence found on hus clothing or in his car that would link him to the murders..."

Derek glared at him. "What are you getting at, Spence?"

Spencer took a deep breath before continuing. "I was about to compare Gary's writing samples to the letters, but didn't do that after I found out that letter was received. Now, in a lack of any conclusive leads, I made the comparisson. And letters match to Gary's writing samples. Also, look at this photograph from his Facebook page, posted a year ago. He is wearing a black leather jacket. I know that I have no conclusive proof, but now I think that Gary is the killer."

JJ ran her hand through her hair, frowning. "But the letter was send to Ella's family while he had already been in custody, and his DNA doesn't match to the one recovered from the pubic hair found on Ella's body or from the skin cells found under Alex's fingernails."

Derek's ringtone went off. He pulled out his phone and answered.

"Hey there, baby girl."

"Hey... I am not sure do you still need this, but I finally managed to uncover Gary's juvenile criminal record."

Derek immediately put her on speaker. "Say what did you find out about Gary."

"At the age of thirteen, he assaulted his teacher, thirty one year old Hillary Green", Penelope read. "He punched her in the face after a lesson. He claimed that she had been bullying him, but she denied that and none of his classmates would testify to his benefit."

Derek mentally face palmed himself. "Let me guess: Hllary was a Caucasian woman, average bright and weight, with long brown hair."

"That's right", Penelope confirmed. "Charges against Gary were eventually dropped due to a lack of evidence. He did switch schools though. Five years later, relocated to Los Angeles where she had resumed her teaching career. Aaaaand four years ago one of her students shot her to death in front of school before committing suicide. He wrote a suicide note that he left at home. In it, he accused of bullying him and school of doing nothing to stop it. It was only after her death that other victims came forward."

"But Gary didn't", JJ noted.

"No, he didn't. And a month later, Brakler contacted the first victim, ."

"News report must have been the trigger", Derek concluded.

Spencer nodded his head. "Mother dying at early age, father who was probably strict and rarely around, domineering and hostile female figure in his adolescency... everything fits."

"But he couldn't bring himself to murder or rape women resembling, so he found another way of hurting them and scaring them", JJ theorized.

"By stalking. Bullying. The same thing that Hillary had been doing to him."

Derek frowned. "But that computer was found in Theodore's basement. Did Gary frame him?"

"But he couldn't have send that letter. And his DNA isn't on the scene."

After a short silence, followed by Penelope humping excitedly in the background, JJ widened her eyes, suddenly having an idea.

"Garcia, look into a background of Gary's wife, Melany Lake."

Penelope did as she was asked, typing as fast as she could. "OK... she was born on September 25th 1989 in Brooklyn. Her mother died when she was five years old, from cancer. And as a child she had a documented thyroid issue."

"That probably lead to weight issues."

"According to her medical records and photographs from that time, yes. When she was twelve, her father was arrested under suspicion of domestic violence. A neighbor reported hearing him and his daughter fighting. Melany had many bruises on her body, varying in size and... age, so to say. She denied her father abusing her and claimed that she sustained all those bruises while attending gym classes. With no witnesses or conclusive evidence, her father was release after spending five days in country jail and resumed living with her. No similar reports were made since. Melany moved away at the age of eighteen, to a rent apartment forty miles away, and started attending city college, graduating in 2011. In 2009 she got herself a stomach bypass and lost lots of weight as a result. Later that year, she had an extra skin from her belly removed, but there were some complication and, although the skin was removed, she was left with pretty nasty scars on her belly area. She tried having them removed several times and even sued the hospital, but unsuccesfully. Some people can't catch a break."

"Anything else?"

"Nothing that you don't know already. She got married to Gary in 2012 and gave birth to their son, Alan, a year later... wow!"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, but... Melany had a scolarship, but apparently still had to work in order to supportive herself. Before graduating, she worked as a waitress in cafe, located a mile away from the place where the second victim, Anne Teeger, lived. Aaaand according to several posts made on her Facebook page, her husband frequented that cafe in 2001, which is how they met and eventually started dating, with him asking her out first after two months. They had their first date in."

"Brakler mentioned that restaurant in one of his letters. He wrote that he was watching Anne while she was on a dinner with her friend there."

#

Within half an hour, everyone, including Freddy, were sitting around the table in the conference room, listening to Derek, JJ and Spencer summing up that unusual case.

"It was unhealthy relationship from the start", Derek explained. "Gary met Melany by frequenting that cafe, and he only did that so he could stalk Anne. He first asked her out only so he could watch Anne, who he probably heard arranging a dinner with her friend, closely while she was in the restaurant without looking suspicious."

JJ nodded her head. "She was a person with deep insecurities and confidence problems. As soon as a man showed some interest in her, she hanged on to him like."

"Gary was raised in a Catholic family and had a sister who was already married and had children by that point", Spencer noted. "He probably only continued the relationship and married Melany in order to get his family off his back."

"Of course, his stalkings kept getting more frequent and violent over time, taking away lots of his free time. Even Melany got suspicious."

"Instead of conforting him, she went through his computer and his phone."

"Gary was smart, and a computer programmer. But Melany was a website designer and worked at home. She eventually leaned his password."

"But instead of a proof of infidelity, she found an evidence of stalking. Letters, notes, photographs, news reports... She probably read about Brakler and realized what that meant. She even found out that her husband had been currently stalking another woman. Even to her, that was too much. But instead of comforting him about that, she devised a murder plot that would help her resolve that situation."

"Plan that involved murdering his current victim and framing somebody else for the murder as well as for all of the stalkings."

"Her father works. He probably obtained her information about people who owned black SUV's similar to Gary's. She would google her names, follow them on social media sites, getting to know their professions, where they live... and she found a perfect fall guy. Theodore. A man who owned a black SUV with licence plates similar to Gary's, worked in a computer industry and lived in Brooklyn."

"So, following her husband in his footsteps, she moved on to stalking too. Theodore."

"At one point, she sneaked in his basement, probably through one of the windows. She obtained his skin cells, probably a door knob and that plastic zip ties, and a pubic hair from old jeans that he kept there. She also stope one of his hammers."

"She made two copies of her husband's hard drive. With the first copy, she made sure to delete everything from it, except for the stalking related things-letters, photographs, Internet records... She then purchased an old, cheap, hardly traceable laptop-she made sure to clean it off any forensic evidence and then she planted an edited copy of her husband's hard drive into it. With the second copy, she deleted only the stalking related records."

"Ella knew that her stalker was a man, so she let Melany inside. Melany probably pretended that she is in a case of emergency and that she needed to use a telephone."

"Once inside, Melany tasered her. She then dragged her in the master's bedroom, on the bed, ripped her clothes off, binded her wrists to a bed frame with leather leashes, gagged her with her own underwear, and waited for her to regain consciousness."

"Probably in order to make everything look more convincing, but also to make her suffer. She didn't Blake her husband, she blamed his victims."

"Once Ella was awake, Melany sexually assaulted her with some sort of an object or a sex toy with a condom pulled over it, beat her up and strangled her to death with her own bra. She also planted Theodore's pubic hair on her body, as well as the appliance that both her husband and had access too. Then she drove back home."

"The next day, she went on murdering secretary, Alex. She had to kill her to make sure that the police will eventually focus on. She convinced Alex to let her inside, probably using the same trick she pulled out at Ella. Once she was inside, she pulled out a gun and forced Alex to call Theodore and talk to him for some time about something business related. Alex did as Melany asked. Melany then pulled out a hammer and bludgeoned Alex to death. First blow probably knocked her off-she didn't have a chance to fight back to Melany and therefore there was no Melany's DNA found on her body or on the scene. She then planted skin cells under Alex's fingernails and made some Google search about Melany's murder on Alex's computer."

"She probably changed the time and a date on a computer clock to make it appear like Alex had been doing that sometime prior to her murder."

"To add one final touch to that estaged crime scene, she ransacked Alex's house."

"She stored the hammer into a plastic bag and drove back to house. She sneaked info his basement, washed the hammer into a sink and wiped it and the sink clean with the towel, then put both things on the same place where they were. And she planted that old laptop underneath the basement floor boards, where she knew nobody would look-except for police detectives looking for evidence to link a suspect to two murders and numerous stalkings."

"She knew that the police will arrest her husband sooner or later, and since she worked at home she was always around. And she was good with computers. Not as good as him, but still. From the point they lead him away roll the point they went to the master's bedroom, she had plenty of time to remove the hard drive from her husband's computer and replace it with the copy. Risky, bit she managed to pull it off..."

#

Melany Lake, wearing a nurse uniform, pulled latex gloves over her hands and climbed over the fence surrounding psychiatric facility. Since it was a backyard, nobody was around.

She walked over to the back door, looked around, pulled latex gloves out from her pocket, pulled them over her hands, took a deep breath, and pressed at the door knob. The door was unlocked. She smirked and stepped inside.

#

"What a woman would do for her man..."

"Though I wouldn't be surprised if Gary deleted it all as soon as police started questioning him about Ella's murder, maybe as soon as he heard that somebody murdered the woman that he had stalked."

"But why go through the trouble of framing someone else, and then cast the suspicious on your husband too?"

"Because she didn't only want to make sure that someone else would take a fall for his crimes, she wanted to scare him off from doing something like that ever again. Just like with her father-he apparently stopped abusing her or continued abusing her but less frequently after the police was called in. And knowing his stubborn personality and intelligence, she assumed that he wouldn't confess, not even the crimes he was guilty off. That is why she didn't leave any directly evidence leading to him-to ensure that. And it worked out."

"Usually, when we solve a case, we rush to arrest the guy. Often to save his victim to be too. This time, however..."

"We only have a theory, we can't arrest her based solely on that."

"Wait... in one of the diary entries, Brakler, I mean Gary, writes that he thinks that night Tania has seen him, noting "she would be the first one". Do you really think that, after everything she did, Melany would do nothing about such a liability?"

Derek pulled out his phone and called Penelope.

"Baby girl, check Melany Lake's internet activity."

Without saying a word, Penelope went on working. "OK... She was last active about twenty minutes ago... wow! She visited Facebook page, googled her address was looking for information about psychiatric facilities in a twenty miles radius from home. And a gun was stolen from a pawn shop near Melany's home ten days ago."

"She is on to her", Aaron concluded, standing up. "Lets go!"

#

Within twenty minutes, Aaron, Kate, Derek and Spencer were making their way to Tania's room door. Aaron opened the door.

As soon as he did, Melany pulled weeping Tania up off the bed and pointed a gun to her head.

"Melany, let go of her", Aaron ordered.

Melany frowned at them, holding Tania tighter. "Stay. Away", he hissed.

"You don't want to do this", Derek assured her.

Melany scoffed. "Really, you think?"

"We know what really happened", Derek's said. "Gary will end up in prison anyway. There's no need to do this."

"It's their fault", Melany spot out. "They made him do what he did." "I don't want to lose him."

"And if you go through with your plan, you will never see him again", JJ said.

"Do you want to die, Melany?", Derek's stated more than asked. "You shoot her, we shoot you. You will never see Gary again."

Melany remained still for a moment, then furiously pushed Tania aside and dropped the gun.

Kate rushed over to Allison and wrapped her in a gentle hug. "It's alright", she whispered while Tania sobbed. "They will not hurt you again. You are safe."

Aaron and JJ walked over to Melany and handcuffed her. "Melany Lake, you are under arrest", Aaron exclaimed as they lead her away.

Spencer looked at the bottle laying down on the bedside table. "Sleeping pills", he noted. "She probably planned making her drink dozens of them at gunpoint. Make it look like a suicide." He sighed as he looked at the paper near by. "She already forced her to write a letter."

#

Spencer Reid: ~We accept the love we think we deserve. Stephen Chbosky~

It was almost night once the plane took off, heaving back to Quantico. Kate and JJ were sleeping peacefully while sitting next to each other, JJ's head resting on Kate's shoulder. David was sitting opposite to them, smiling at the sight before continuing to read a book. Aaron had just went to the men's room.

Derek smiled as he sat beside Spencer, holding a mug full of coffee in his hand. Spencer looked up at him from his laptop. "Gary hired a lawyer for himself and his wife", he exclaimed.

Spencer glared at him. "Sounds reasonable."

"He only had enough money for one good lawyer. He gave that one to his wife and opted to have a court appointed one."

Spencer frowned. "That is... strangely generous."

"He says that she is a love of his life and that he had finally realized that he had never appreciated her enough."

Spencer was confused. "There is no way that she will get away. He will have to wait for at least fifteen years. And he himself will be in prison for at least ten..."

Derek smiled before taking a sip of coffee. "Match made in Heaven."

"What about Alan?", Spencer asked.

"He will probably be given to Gary's sister."

Spencer remained silent for a few moments before finally speaking up. "Over the last couple of weeks, I've been engaging in a discussion with a certain person on human psychologica forums." He swallowed hard before continuing. "Female person." Derek's raised his eyebrows at him, but said nothing. "We are friends. Very close online friends. That's all."

Derek grinned. "Your first online friend?"

Spencer chuckled. "Yes..."

"Are you afraid of it developing into something more?"

Spencer smiled slightly. "Maybe... what should I do."

Derek shrugged. "Just enjoy what you two have right now. And if you get worked, come to me." They exchanged a smile. "But don't be afraid", Derek warned him.

Spencer smiled shyly and looked back down on his laptop as the sky slowly turned dark.

~THE END~


End file.
